November 21, 2016
The media is filled with articles treating supporters of Trump with contempt. They regard them and Trump himself, as racists, sexists and misogynists, arguing that they will regress the rights of women and sexual minorities.
They insult women by presenting them as a single voting bloc holding views similar to theirs. This ignores the fact that women are individuals with their own independent views and do not all think alike. The position of the opinion makers on women’s views is hard to reconcile with the fact that 42% of female voters and of these, fully 53% white female voters, chose Trump over Clinton.
The Clinton Campaign thought they had given Trump the Coup de Grace when they presented an eleven year old video, and produced multiple women alleging that Trump had sexually harassed them. Although this may have mattered to professional white feminists, it did not matter to most women who had other concerns, much more important to them, such as jobs, national security, the economy and balancing family responsibilities with work life.
It is easy to disparage others who hold differing views by throwing epithets at them. Rather than listening to and entering into dialogue with others, in an effort to understand their perspective, the opinion makers marginalized and labelled those who did not support their views, calling them “deplorable”.
The right to religious belief was placed in jeopardy by Hillary Clinton and her campaign managers, as well as commentators in the media who expressed the opinion that Christians would have to change their beliefs to conform to a secular society. Florists, photographers and bakers are under attack, and their businesses threatened, if they do not conform to the progressive politically correct agenda. This was unacceptable to many voters. Further, many voters had lost jobs and were concerned about their future in an unstable economy.
It was this lack of respect and contempt for those who hold differing views that led to the Trump presidency by way of the ballot box. The elites who like to regard themselves as the “thinkers” of society, overplayed their hand. They regarded those who did not agree with them as malleable fodder to be manipulated into conformity, by way of social pressures and regulation. They did not care about them, and did not respect their right to live out their beliefs because the “thinkers” arrogantly believed that such beliefs were fundamentally flawed.
The U.S. election has exposed a deep chasm between the media, the pollsters and other such opinion makers, and the ordinary people. The latter rebelled and voted in their own self-defence to protect their own values.
Unless and until the human dignity of all people is respected, by listening to their concerns and dialoging with them, it is unlikely that our society will be able to live in harmony.
Article by: REAL Women of Canada, November 21, 2016